https://www.dur.ac.uk/cerees/research/ccs/projects/muontomography/
Muon Tomography Overview Burial of CO2 as a fluid deep within the earth will assist humankind curb emissions of greenhouse gases and help us transition to a future in which renewable and other low-carbon energies meet our needs. As with any waste disposal process, monitoring to ensure sites are safe is a critical component. The current preferred technology for monitoring CO2 disposal sites is to repeatedly acquire 3D seismic data from which we can interpret changes in the properties of the rock and fluid in the deep subsurface as indicators of the distribution of injected CO2. The process is episodic and very expensive – a single site could cost several million pounds per annum to monitor. Muon tomography offers an alternative which is both continuous and potentially much less expensive. Muons, sub-atomic particles, are produced continuously and naturally in the earth’s upper atmosphere, and there is a constant flow of them to the Earth’s surface. They are harmless to humans but nevertheless can be detected in deep mines (>1.5km). The number of muons detected at such depths is controlled by the density and thickness of the material through which they pass. When CO2 is injected deep below the earth’s surface it changes the bulk density of the rock within which it lies. These changes can be monitored and used to ensure injection sites remain safe. Outputs Kudryavtsev, V.A.,, Spooner, N.C.,, Gluyas, J.G.,, Fung, C., & Coleman, M.L. (2012). Monitoring subsurface CO2 emplacement and security of storage using muon tomography. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 11: 21-24. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
